A NSW development can owe a local infrastructure contribution to the council, worked out under a section 7.11 plan, a section 7.12 levy or a planning agreement. In four regions it can also owe the state’s housing and productivity contribution (HPC), which is a separate charge from the council’s.
General informationThis page summarises the NSW planning department’s pages on local infrastructure contributions and the housing and productivity contribution as at October 2026. It does not work out any project’s charges. The department directs questions about a council’s plan or rates to that council, and questions about calculating the HPC for an application to the consent authority: the council officer or registered certifier.
Four charges, side by side
Councils run the local system under a policy the state sets through legislation, ministerial directions and practice notes. The local money pays for things such as parks, community facilities, local roads, footpaths, stormwater drainage and traffic management.
| Charge | Set by | How it is worked out |
|---|---|---|
| Section 7.11 contribution | The council | Charged where the development is shown to be linked to the infrastructure being funded. The council’s contributions plan lists the works and their rough cost, which gives a rate, usually per dwelling or per square metre. |
| Section 7.12 levy | The council | An alternative to a 7.11 contribution: a percentage of the development’s estimated cost. In most areas the maximum is 1%; a small number of areas charge more. |
| Planning agreement | Negotiated | A legal agreement between the developer and a planning authority to deliver an infrastructure outcome. |
| Housing and productivity contribution | The state, through a Ministerial planning order | An amount per new dwelling lot, per new dwelling or per square metre of new gross floor area, depending on the kind of development, indexed every quarter. |
The housing and productivity contribution
The HPC applies to applications for new residential, commercial and industrial development in Greater Sydney, Illawarra Shoalhaven, Lower Hunter and Greater Newcastle, and the Central Coast, complying development and state significant development included. It helps pay for state infrastructure: schools, hospitals, major roads, public transport and regional open space. Which Ministerial order applies depends on the date the application was lodged on the Planning Portal, and the Portal’s Spatial Viewer shows whether a site is inside an HPC region.
On top of the base amount, some places carry more. A transport component may also apply to development in the Pyrmont Peninsula (Sydney Metro) Area or in the Western Sydney Aerotropolis Station Precincts Area. Biodiversity components apply to development within the Cumberland Plain Conservation Plan area, to residential development on biodiversity certified land in the West Dapto Urban Release Area (from 1 February 2026), and to development on biodiversity certified land in the Western Sydney Growth Areas (from 1 July 2026).
The special infrastructure contributions for the Western Sydney Growth Areas and the Western Sydney Aerotropolis moved into the HPC scheme, and the HPC base component now applies across Greater Sydney, the former SIC areas included. Transitional arrangements recognise SIC payments already made, so the same infrastructure is not charged twice.
Where a past contribution was made in a former SIC area, the HPC can be reduced through an exemption or discount certificate. The department cannot issue one, or a refund, once the HPC has been paid, and asks to be contacted early in the application.
An illustrative example
The department publishes the HPC base component as at 1 October 2026. For medium or high-density residential development in Greater Sydney it is $11,269.04 for each new dwelling. Take an imagined building of 12 new apartments there, with no transport or biodiversity component:
| Base component per new dwelling, Greater Sydney, as at 1 October 2026 | $11,269.04 |
| New dwellings in the imagined building | × 12 |
| HPC base component, illustrative | $135,228.48 |
The council’s own charge sits on top. If the council used a 7.12 levy at the 1% maximum, an imagined estimated development cost of $6,000,000 would give a levy of $60,000. The real figures depend on the council’s plan, the order in force when the application is lodged, any credits, and the rate for that quarter.
The rate varies with place and kind. For a new lot in a residential subdivision, the base component as at 1 October 2026 is $13,522.84 in Greater Sydney and $9,015.23 in the Central Coast, Illawarra-Shoalhaven and Lower Hunter.
Building it instead of paying it
A developer can meet the HPC with money or by building eligible infrastructure under a works-in-kind agreement. Taking part is voluntary: a developer who pays the money can go ahead straight away. Infrastructure offered instead of money has to be in the same region as the development, and part of the contribution may still be payable if the works do not cover all of it.
No offer goes ahead without the agreement of the Minister for Planning and Public Spaces, set down in a legal agreement with the government, and drafting starts only after the offer is accepted. Streamlined proposals are invited twice a year, from 1 June to 31 August and from 1 November to 31 January. The 2026 first round closed on 31 August, and the next opens in November 2026.
The department assesses each proposal with the relevant agencies and advises the Urban Development Program Oversight Committee, which makes a recommendation; the NSW Government makes the final decision. How many offers can be accepted is limited by a works-in-kind budget: a yearly amount set aside from forecast HPC revenue, guided by the NSW Budget.
A consent’s conditions can include development contributions, as the guide to the development application explains.